Here We Go Again ... and again ... and again

Jen, over at The Mom Jen, hosts a weekly meme called A Thousand Words Thursday where the participants post a picture ... or series of pictures ... that speak a thousand words. I decided this was a good opportunity to post a couple of pictures of me (the real me ... not Eeyore) so here goes ...

This was my family in about 1992. I was far from my highest weight at this point but I was on the way up. To be honest it may be difficult to find pictures that portray my weight journey as I have generally been the photo taker in order to avoid being the subject! 

A few years later. This was probably about 2000. I must have weighed close to 400 pounds by this point. And I had been on and off more fad diets than I can list, to no avail! 

A family gathering in July of 2002 (or maybe 3) I think you can see here that a - we like each other and were happy to be together (this was at my Dad's retirement) and b - that my dad and siblings, and to a lesser degree my mom, all struggle with weight issues. Think it might be genetic?

This picture was taken in the Spring of 2004. I had started trying the Atkins (low carb diet) and was losing weight at a pretty good rate. I was excited, and disciplined, enough at this point that I even resisted cake and punch at my daughter's wedding. 

This one makes me a little sad ... summer of 2006 ... I was at the low point in my weight loss journey. I got stuck at this weight for a while (wish I was there now) and started feeding my frustration with wrong foods. Then in early 2007 I went back to work full time and was no longer able to invest 5 - 6 hours daily in the gym, started eating more fast foods and convenience foods and the weight came piling back on FAST! 

Which brings us to December 2009 (Christmas with my sister's family). That's me in the lower left hand corner of the photo. It's completely appalling to me to see these last 2 side by side. :( 

Another recent family photo taken at Silver Dollar City in December 2009. 

That's me, as defined by a handful of pictures! I have lost weight before and I will lose it again! I hope, and pray, that this time I can do the mental, spiritual, and emotional work that will enable me to KEEP it off!

I would love to see the south side of 200 again but doctors say that may not be reasonable for me. I'm fairly tall (5'9"), large frame, and have a genetic and hormonal predisposition towards obesity. So for now I am shooting for a healthy 250 and then I will see how far I can inch down from there. My very own personal biggest loser ... or winner as the case may be!